But in this case, as in so many others, she has shared Imperial
burdens, while not sharing Imperial freedom and power. Apart from this,
the change which made the Army so ruinous a burden on the resources of
the country was the system of "British reliefs," the using of India as a
training ground for British regiments, and the transfer of the men thus
trained, to be replaced by new ones under the short service system, the
cost of the frequent transfers and their connected expenses being
charged on the Indian revenues, while the whole advantage was reaped by
Great Britain. On the short service system the Simla Army Commission
declared:
The short service system recently introduced into the British
Army has increased the cost and has materially reduced the
efficiency of the British troops in India. We cannot resist the
feeling that, in the introduction of this system, the interest
of the Indian tax-payer was entirely left out of consideration.
The remark was certainly justified, for the short service system gave
India only five years of the recruits she paid heavily for and trained,
all the rest of the benefit going to England.
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